Black: Summer Signings Will Happen Immediately

Sunderland will head into the summer break with one of it's smallest squads ever recorded.

Many loan players such as Onuoha, Welbeck, Mensah and Muntari will all be back with their parent clubs.

Bruce has to wait on injury news for many key players such as Bramble, Turner, Gyan, Cattermole, Richardson and Meyler to name a few and his drive for new players will start as soon as the window opens.

Eric Black has told skysports.com that they have been scouting players for a while now and we will see a busy period of rumours and speculation before any deals are completed.

Black said: 'The process has been going on for a while now; we're looking at potential players to come in this summer.

'We've got a lot of players in our view. We're watching a lot of videos, going to see a lot of games and have plenty of things to follow up.

'It's a massive job. The recruitment is the most important part in terms of giving the club an opportunity to fulfil its potential.

'We do get a small amount of time off over the summer but the phone is always to hand and there's always a call to be made or someone to meet.'